Fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccine a challenge: WHO chief scientist

On vaccine development for the novel coronavirus, WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said that by early 2021, we should have some good news.

New Delhi:  World Health Organisation's chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said distributing the COVID-19 vaccine around the world fairly without letting the rich countries corner the limited doses is going to be a big challenge. She added that by early 2021, we should have some good news about the coronavirus vaccine.

She made the statement while addressing the valedictory of the XV international conference on public policy & management.

Soumya Swaminathan said that India is in a good position because many companies are working on vaccine development, either on their own or in collaboration, she said, adding, the country is a manufacturing hub for vaccines.

Talking about the mortality rate, she said that our mortality rate is not going up in the second wave of the pandemic. She added this may be due to the demographics and other factors we do not yet know why South Asia and Africa have lower mortality rates than Europe and the Americas.